1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to communication systems and, more particularly, to delivery of multimedia content across different platforms that are made interoperable through a network, such as a home network.
2. Description of Related Art
Content connectivity in a residence or office environment is becoming more attractive to simplify the way information is controlled and delivered. As more residences are built to accommodate a digital environment (digital home), the prior practice of having many different systems that operate independently from one another is undesirable for a number of reasons. In a typical home, a variety of electrical devices are present, but most of these devices operate independently from one another. For example, a television system that typically includes one or more displays, a digital video recorder (DVR) and/or a digital video disc (DVD) recorder/player, and which may also include a converter (generally known as a set-top box) may form one system. A television system in a home is typically connected together by a coaxial cable which runs through the home. Another system which may be present in a home is a telephone system, in which one or more telephone units are distributed throughout the house. A home telephone system may be wired or wireless or a combination of the two. Still another system typically found in a home is a computer system, in which one or more computers are connected to various peripherals, such as printers, cameras, compact disk (CD) or DVD players, mass storage units, routers, etc. Typically, various components of a home computer system are tied together by a router and/or a server through a wired local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN) or a combination of both wired and wireless local area network, as well as other connectivity. Further, the home computer network is coupled to external networks, such as the Internet, through cable modem connections, DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) modem connections, telephone connections and/or microwave (e.g. satellite) connections, as well as other connections.
In an existing home, many of these systems operate independently from one another and complications are well noted in trying to bridge content from one system to another. For example, a digital photo may be readily transferred to a computer from a camera, so that a photo may be printed from a printer connected to the computer, but it is typically not possible to transfer the photo for display onto a television set. Likewise, a movie that may be played from a DVD player of a notebook computer may be watched on the notebook display, but that same movie cannot be watched on a television set in the home, unless the DVD is transferred to a DVD player connected to the television set or the notebook video output is connect to the television set.
More recently, a concept for an integrated digital home has emerged in order to tie together the various digital systems in a home. By developing an interoperable network to integrate both wired and wireless platforms, content may be delivered across these different platforms and shared seamlessly by devices coupled to the interoperable network. For example, personal computers (PCs), consumer electronics (CEs) and mobile devices, such as cellular telephones (cell phones), personal digital assistants (PDAs) and mobile multimedia devices (e.g. portable MP-3 players) may transfer content among themselves with minimal or no effort from the person wanting the content.
One entity which is attempting to form a cross-industry convergence of platforms is the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA). The various platforms, such as set-top boxes (STBs), PCs, DVD players, gaming machines, MP-3 players, Blue Ray™ players, mobile phones, personal media players, as well as others, may be integrated using one or more connectivity, such as multimedia over cable (MoCA) wired connection, Wi-Fi wireless connection, Ethernet wired LAN connection, Bluetooth wireless connection, Blue-Fi wireless connection, optical connectivity and powerline connectivity, as well as others. Once these various systems are tied together for seamless content sharing in a home network, content obtained from one platform may be transferred seamlessly to another platform using some form of connectivity.
Once the interoperable system is available in a home, the content to and/or from the various platforms may be manipulated in a variety of ways. This is possible, since a previously passive device, such as a television set, is now coupled to a processing device, such as a PC or a cell phone, so that additional computational power is now available to control content delivery to the passive device, or to other devices. Thus, new techniques to exploit this interoperability across platforms may be implemented to further control or enhance content delivery.